As I walk through this wicked world, I have found that light orchestral easy listening instrumental music can be very comforting. No hard edges, nothing shocking or discordant, just mellow flowing gentleness. A soft warm blanket that helps take my mind off the planetary suffering for a little while.
The Hollyridge Strings was a studio orchestra that made easy listening covers of popular songs. The main conductor and arranger was Stu Phillips, but Mort Garson and Perry Botkin Jr. were also involved.
Their version of Strawberry Fields Forever enhances the beauty and dreaminess of the original John Lennon composition. The saxophone that opens the first verse at 0:13 is almost too sultry, but the strings soon appear, along with the cool quiet little "chik" guitar and drums. The section from 0:42 - 1:07 is easy listening heaven, it oozes sweet aching romantic softness. It's all draped with reverb to give it that drifting through an empty shopping mall feeling.
Want more easy listening music? There is a great internet station called Instrumental Hits Radio. And you can find lots more Hollyridge Strings Beatles covers on youtube.
In honor of St Patrick's Day, here's my favorite Irish musician, the late great Phil Lynott, lead vocalist and bassist with Thin Lizzy.
His mother, Philomena, was Irish, and his father was Guyanese. His parents didn't stay together, and his single mother couldn't raise him by herself. He grew up in Dublin with his grandparents and his uncles, Peter and Timmy. Despite the social stigma in Ireland at the time regarding his mixed-race background, his grandparents provided a stable, loving home, often affectionately calling him their "little black baby". Although he grew up apart from his mother, they shared a deep and loving bond.
Life with his grandparents provided a deep connection to Ireland that he retained throughout his life and career, even as he achieved international fame. He spoke fondly of his childhood in Dublin, which served as a source of inspiration for his songwriting and storytelling. His friend and Thin Lizzy bandmate Scott Gorham said in 2013, "Phil was so proud of being Irish. No matter where he went in the world if we were talking to a journalist and they got something wrong about Ireland, he'd give the guy a history lesson. It meant a lot to him."
Roisin Dubh (Black Rose) A Rock Legend is a tribute to Ireland. It interweaves traditional tunes like ‘Shenandoah’ and ‘Danny Boy’ into the distinctive Thin Lizzy twin guitar sound. It also pays tribute to Irish mythological hero CĂș Chulainn and indulges in a playful string of puns and wordplay, acknowledging iconic figures of the Emerald Isle. From W.B. Yeats and Oscar Wilde to Van Morrison and Brendan Behan, the lyrics showcase a clever homage to a host of Ireland’s cultural luminaries.
Lyrics by Phil Lynott and Gary Moore:
Tell me the legends of long ago When the kings and queens would dance in the realm of the Black Rose Play me the melodies I want to know So I can teach my children, oh
Pray tell me the story of young Cuchulainn How his eyes were dark his expression sullen And how he'd fight and always won And how they cried when he was fallen
Oh tell me the story of the Queen of this land And how her sons died at her own hand And how fools obey commands
Oh tell me the legends of long ago
Where the mountains of Mourne come down to the sea Will she no come back to me Will she no come back to me
Oh Shenandoah I hear you calling Far away you rolling river Roll down the mountain side On down on down go lassie go
Oh Tell me the legends of long ago When the kings and queens would dance in the realms of the Black Rose Play me the melodies so I might know And I can tell my children, oh
My Roisin Dubh is my one and only true love It was a joy that Joyce brought to me While William Butler waits And Oscar, he's going Wilde
Ah sure, Brendan where have you Behan? Looking for a girl with green eyes My dark Rosaleen is my only colleen That Georgie knows Best
But Van is the man Starvation once again Drinking whiskey in the jar-o Synge's Playboy of the Western World
As Shaw, Sean I was born and reared there Where the Mountains of Mourne come down to the sea Is such a long, long way from Tipperary
Yeah, what is that thing? It's a Bladderhorn, a creature created by Wayne Barlow, a sci-fi/fantasy artist extraordinaire.
Iannis Xenakis was an amazing guy. Remembered as a prolific avant-garde composer, there was so much more to him. There needs to be a movie.
This is just a section of the entire piece called Hibiki Hana Ma, which is around eighteen minutes. It was one of his electroacoustic pieces which was repeatedly played every day in the Tekkhokan (steel pavilion) during Expo ‘70 in Osaka. It's all kinds of bleeps and skids, rumbles and twitches, wood tocks and crackling papers. It's a big bowl of electronic soup, perhaps the Bladderhorn's favorite dish?
Being such a huge fan of his previous album, Peggy Suicide, I was so eager to hear what Julian Cope would come up with next. Jehovahkill was a massive double album of pagan megalithic heathen mother earth concepts and a thrashing of mainstream monotheism. I loved it.
Fear Loves This Place was the obvious "hit" from this album of challenging electronic krautrock epics and lo-fi guitar strumming. It looks at the subject of domestic violence and its existence in a supposedly peaceful and loving Christian society. Today it's the right-wing evangelical Christian US government that has brought the Crusades back after 1500 years to proselytize through their beautiful loving fear and death all over the place. We're living one hell of a heaven.
As a teenager, if I was listening to this music, then I was listening to the live album Yessongs, by Yes (or possibly watching a VHS copy of the film). The dramatic music served as a countdown to Yes taking the stage and launching into the song Siberian Khatru. Kind of pretentious, but it certainly gave me a greater appreciation for classical music.
Igor Stravinsky achieved international fame with his orchestral composition for The Firebird ballet, which premiered in Paris in 1910. Set in the evil immortal Koschei's castle, the ballet follows Prince Ivan, who battles Koschei with the help of the Firebird, a magical and prophetic glowing or burning bird from a faraway land which is both a blessing and a harbinger of doom to its captor. The Finale here is from the 1919 Firebird Suite, a reduction of the ballet for a smaller orchestra.
Firebird. What a cool frickin word. My Dad owned a Pontiac Firebird for maybe a year or so back in the 70s.
Mr. Stravinsky, what can I do to put you behind the wheel of this baby?
Kourosh Yaghmaei is known as "the Godfather of Iranian psychedelic rock", as well as "the king of rock". He began his career in the 60s, playing covers of popular western pop music like the Beatles, the Kinks, and the Ventures.
Kourosh was heavily censored following the 1979 Iranian Revolution. His work was banned from the country's airways, markets and homes, and his name from the press. He decided to stay in Iran rather than migrate to another country. During this time he worked for children and published books and cassettes.
In 2016, he was quoted in Vice magazine: I believed that if I had changed my career it would be an unrespectful behaviour to my music and myself and also it would mean betrayal to my cultural roots. Now that I look back, I am glad I did not bribe anyone or bow to pressures, but lived all these 37 years with honour. I believe even in an unequal battle, resistance is preferred to giving up.
Based on this photo, I'm surprised he's not known as the Iranian Paul McCartney.
I'm feeling nostalgic today. This instrumental, instrumetal if you will, cover of the famous Wizard of Oz tune was really big in South Korea when I lived there in the late 90s, despite it being ten years old or so by then. I first heard it on the radio in Sangju one night, then went to my favorite local music store and bought the cassette. The metal band Helloween was also hugely popular there. It seems there were a couple waves of Korean metal in the 80s and 90s, but I never picked up on it, despite hearing something like this on the radio. It was too underground or Seoul-based for me to notice, probably.
This is a major shredding showcase for the guitarist, Chris Impellitteri (the photo on his wikipedia page is from a 2016 Korean rock festival...he's still big there!). In 2003, Guitar One magazine voted him the second-fastest guitar shredder of all time. Who was voted number one? This guy. I know very little about either one of these guitar speedsters...but they definitely have fans in South Korea.
RaĂŻ is a form of Algerian folk music that dates back to the 1920s. The tradition arose in the city of Oran, primarily among the poor. Traditionally sung by men, by the end of the 20th century, female singers became common. The lyrics have concerned social issues such as disease and the policing of European colonies that affected native populations.
During the 1970s, raĂŻ artists brought in influences from other countries such as Egypt, Europe, and the Americas. Trumpets, the electric guitar, synthesizers, and drum machines were specific instruments that were put into music. This marked the beginning of pop raĂŻ, which was performed by a later generation which adopted the title of Cheb (male) or Chaba (female), meaning "young," to distinguish themselves from the older musicians who continued to perform in the original style.
International success of the genre had begun as early as 1976 with the rise to prominence of producer Rachid Baba Ahmed. He helped many young and upcoming artists, and he had a modern 24-track studio.
He and his brother Fethi had been playing music since the 1960s. I stumbled upon the video for Utopia a few years ago. I was blown away by the otherworldly sounds Rachid created on the keyboard, a Yamaha YC-25D. Combined with the delicate 12-string guitars, it is like a psychedelic dream, vaguely reminiscent of Witthuser & Westrupp's Illusion I. In the video, Fethi is on the left. I'm not sure who the other guitarist is. Someone made a snowman that resembles Rachid. At 1:43, some guys emerge from the background, throwing snowballs around. They run towards the musicians and one guy leaps over the snowman. Fun fun fun.
Get ready, because here we have yet another example of a country that became embroiled in civil war, resulting in artists of all sorts being targeted for daring to be different. The Algerian war began slowly, as it initially appeared the government had successfully crushed the Islamist movement, but armed groups emerged to declare violent jihad, and by 1994, violence had reached such a level that it appeared the government might not be able to withstand it.
In 1995, Rachid Baba Ahmed was assassinated by Islamic fundamentalists outside his record store in Oran. He was targeted because of his involvement in the production of pop raĂŻ, which was seen as a transgressive genre that challenged the status quo. Following the assassination of his brother and musical partner, Fethi Baba Ahmed was completely devastated and stopped producing and performing music. Thanks a lot, extremist bastards.
The first time I heard this song, I didn't listen to the lyrics. I was distracted by the elementary school musical piano and fuzz guitar riff at 0:11. I thought it might have an optimistic message, you know, like an enjoy life or smell the roses attitude. Actually, it's a "guys are jerks, and girl, you need to save yourself" cautionary tale like so many mid-60s girl group songs. I transcribed the lyrics:
Take a look around you you’ll find the scene is grim and take a look around you you’ll see you just can’t win
When day is gone it all went wrong you’ll pray there’ll be a different dawn
Please here what I say
Try to change it for the rest of your life it ain’t no use you’ll be staring at the end of a knife taking abuse
So take a look around you and see what you can do Their lying and cheating found you you’ll do as others do
The grapes of wrath the aftermath the two-faced crowd they’re screaming loud
Please take heed of me
The grapes of wrath the aftermath the two-faced crowd they’re screaming loud
So take a look around you and see what you can do.
Love that "grapes of wrath/aftermath" rhyme, don't you? And "you'll be staring at the end of a knife"? Ouch! The song was co-written by Bill Jerome (record producer) and Mary Aiese, aka lead singer Reparata. She and group member Nanette Licari attended Catholic school (of course) in New York City (ditto). Reparata was Mary's confirmation name.
The story of Reparata and the Delrons lasted about 40 years, with various twists and turns. Mary kept the group going, but stopped singing live to concentrate on her family and career as a teacher. Another member of the group, Lorraine Mazzola, took over as lead singer during live shows and began to introduce herself as Reparata. The live shows stopped in 1973 when Mazzola joined Barry Manilow's back-up singers Lady Flash. In Lady Flash, Mazzola began to use the stage name "Reparata Mazzola", and has done so ever since. Exqueeze me? This led to many issues as to who controlled the Reparata "brand" if you will.
Things got sorted out at some point, and Mary kept the group and her own career going until 2000, when she disbanded the group for good.
Don't do it, Mary slash Reparata! And who's that slimy clod with his hand on your neck? You need to open up a can of whoop-ass, like you're in a girl gang Roger Corman movie. Maybe there's an opening for you in the Lizzies.
Shin Joong-Hyun is the godfather of Korean rock, the most important figure in the history of rock music in South Korea. In 2010, he became the first Asian musician and the sixth in the world to be the recipient of a Fender Custom Shop Tribute Series guitar, joining Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Eddie Van Halen, Yngwie Malmsteen, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. You can have your k-pop if you must, children, but please know that this guy runs rings around BTS in my book.
Why is it spelled with a Kadda instead of a Gadda? The Korean translation contains the consonant and vowel combination ê°, which is often pronounced "ka". This is my theory, at least. It's not important. I'm sure the Iron Butterfly guys didn't care.
It's recorded live. Out of the gate the song isn't mind-blowing; it's like two guys after a few rounds in a karaoke bar. Fortunately, they only stick around until 2:38, then the long middle instrumental section begins. It plods along slowly with an organ solo, then picks up in intensity around 3:55, with added cymbals and Shin's guitar. He kind of feels things out, but then gets the wah pedal going after 5:30, and by 6:00 or so he's coaxing some nice shrieks from his guitar. The all-important drum solo begins at 8:00, and the organ returns at 9:18. At 10:52, we hear the "you cannot petition the lord with prayer" quote from The Doors' "The Soft Parade". More soju for the gentlemen please! Back into the heart of it all at 11:32, and the guys return at 13:13 for the final vocals.
I first heard this in the Malcolm McDowell film If.... (1968). It's a pipe organ spectacular. Lots of modulating chords, a kaleidoscope of changes, a showpiece of technical brilliance.
Frederick Hohman is the organist. He has performed all over the world. I love his tan jacket and the way his left hand flies high off the keys early on, at 0:25. He completely rocks, I wonder if he knows Rick Wakeman? Or if he knew Jon Lord? I wonder what his thoughts are regarding Iron Butterfly. Has he ever just sat down and played In-a-gadda-da-vida?
Here is the composer himself, Charles-Marie Widor, perhaps rocking out in the long ago.
This is my second favorite track from the Numero Group release called Good God! Born Again Funk. It is a funky groove riding the one beat all the way. Guitar and drums start it off, then a supremely funky bass arrives at 018. At 0:29, the singer, with mighty righteousness in his voice, demands an answer to the question, "If Jesus came back today, what would you do?" He, along with the other guys in the group, asks it twice of the general listener, then he twice asks the other guys as well. They have a ready answer: "Go back with him!" He asks them again because their answer fills him with such intense joy. After that it's a series of pronouncements and declarations related to the answer. Man, if Jesus is as cool as these guys say, I'd go back too.
So many cool musical moments throughout, including the drums at 1:03 and the bass from 1:34 to 1:36 and again at 2:47. Just great little events all over the place. Pay particular attention to the music after 4:23, and the amazing drum fill at 4:39 to end it all.
The church I grew up going to was very nice, but the services were pretty dull. It did, however, have an awesome pipe organ and organist.
This song is like a dream you remember bits of when you wake up, but then it all evaporates and you're left grasping at hazy tendrils. At its foundation are distant Velvet Underground chords, topped with slow surf guitar tones and bathroom vocals. A floating cloud of dust motes in a room of nothing on a late autumn afternoon as the light starts to fade outside. A leaf all alone going down a slow stream. Something there and then gone.
Charlie Megira was an Israeli musician and he sang in Hebrew. He died (hanged himself) in 2016 at the age of 44. There is a documentary about him that I hope to watch at some point.
I've decided to post the full video of the opening credits. I can't just sit here and listen to the music without the visuals. The Warriors is a late 1970s cult film about street gangs in gritty grimy dark and unpretty New York City. It's one of my favorites. *Just a brief disclaimer: there is an offensive word or two. It's of its time.
Walter Hill, the film's director, narrates the opening reference to the Battle of Cunaxa, connecting its story of courage to the story we are about to see. The mighty Wonder Wheel stands eerie and pink in the night as a creepy series of notes plays. Then comes the train, moving smoothly through the darkness, arriving with its cold empty cars and unwelcoming lights. The Warriors get on board, leaving their turf in Coney Island and heading up to the Bronx to see what this Cyrus character is all about. Their dialogue gives us some clues about the evening's main event. Meanwhile, many other gangs are in motion, the pulsating music leading them to the trains.
Barry De Vorzon won the 1978 Grammy for Best Instrumental Arrangement, for "Nadia's Theme (The Young and the Restless)", one of my least favorite pieces of music. That he also composed the music from The Warriors is beyond me. He should have won an award for this, it's way better. Well, he also co-wrote "In The City" with Joe Walsh, so I'll cut him some slack.
Psychic TV was the name of the creative vehicle for Genesis P-Orridge, formerly of Throbbing Gristle. Godstar is a tribute to Brian Jones, one of the Rolling Stones. Genesis was keenly interested in his story, and made it a very special story in this song. They sing it with anger in their eyes, great anguish in their voice. SO many heavy words:
And you were so beautiful You were so very special I wish I was with you now I wish I could save you somehow
And where were all of your laughing friends? Where were they at the very end? They started to steal your glory They never even told your story
Genesis was an early Stones fan, and they particularly loved Brian's contributions to their bluesy sound. Brian drowned in his swimming pool at the age of 27 in 1969. The coroner ruled it as "death by misadventure", that he died due to his use of drugs and alcohol. Many fans like Genesis felt that the rest of the group neglected Brian and should have cared more about his condition.
Despite the biting lyrics, the song includes a riff right out of the Stones' classic Brown Sugar. So maybe Genesis forgave them?
I'm also including this video clip, which includes an interview with the very astute Genesis P-Orridge.
This is a "Choose Your Own Adventure" kind of music. You begin to listen to this music. If you don't enjoy it, turn to page 2. If you enjoy it, turn to page 37.
Page 2: You turn it off after ten seconds. You think, does the blog creator actually like this weird stuff? Hmm. You step away and put on something totally familiar and normal, like Def Leppard or Bon Jovi. Yeah...Bon Jovi rocks!! You can breathe easy.
Page 37: You continue to listen to this experimental electronic modified effects sonic recording. It's almost 10 minutes. You really have no idea what is going on. Various sounds appear and change and turn into other sounds. It hangs around, drifting in and out of your awareness. Very interesting. Then it ends. Turn to Page 49.
Page 49: You find yourself in the presence of David Rosenboom. Far out.
This past new year's eve I watched The Big Lebowski for the umpteenth time. The film opens with the 1946 recording of Tumbling Tumbleweeds by the Sons of the Pioneers. It sets the mood nicely with its ambling along the trail atmosphere. The Dude, Jeff Lebowski (played by Jeff Bridges), certainly drifts along to his own beat out there in the vast city of Los Angalese, in the parlance of Sam Elliott.
Leonard Slye co-founded the Sons of the Pioneers in California in 1933, and sang on their 1934 recording of Tumbling Tumbleweeds. In 1937 he was offered a contract to be a Hollywood actor. His contract required him to leave the group and he became Roy Rogers, one of the most famous and popular Western stars of his era. The Sons of the Pioneers continued on, occasionally singing with him and participating in his films.
Blue Shadows on the Trail appears in the Disney animated film Melody Time, during the Pecos Bill segment. Roy sings the beginning part and the Sons bring in their gorgeous harmonies at 0:23, creating layers of warmth around the fire. Owls and coyotes hoot and howl in the distance. The blue shadows arrive at night, passing quietly across the ground with the moon, velvety and soft. The whistling in the middle is sublime, a delicate accompaniment to night on the Texas terrain.
Move a-long, Blue Shadows, move a-long, soon the dawn will come and you'll be on your way.
Here's some groovy funk rock from Mogadishu, Somalia. Dur-Dur (meaning "spring" in Somali, as in a natural flowing water spring) Band were huge in their home country in the late 80s. I found this album, Volume 5, at my local library about two or three years ago. I was immediately hooked by the funky grooves, the chicky chick guitar picking, the reverb vocals.
Tajir Waa Ilaah translates to "God is perfect". The song explores themes of human vulnerability, the fleeting nature of wealth, the necessity of humility, and the importance of empathy towards women. It suggests that true, lasting perfection belongs only to the divine, reminding listeners not to look down on others.
In addition to Dur-Dur Band, there were also the Iftin Band, Waaberi Band, and Sharaf Band rocking out in Mogadishu on a regular basis. Unfortunately, as with Cambodia and Ethiopia, war had to raise its ugly head and bring the good times to an end. Somalia had been under military junta since 1978. Rebel groups formed, the government military was defeated, and the country descended into chaos with various groups fighting for power.
Volume 5 was reissued around a decade ago by the label Awesome Tapes from Africa. From their website:
By 1987 Dur-Dur Band’s line-up featured singers Sahra Abukar Dawo, Abdinur Adan Daljir, Mohamed Ahmed Qomal and Abdukadir Mayow Buunis, backed by Abukar Dahir Qasim (guitar), Yusuf Abdi Haji Aleevi (guitar), Ali Dhere (trumpet), Muse Mohamed Araci (saxophone), Abdul Dhegey (saxophone), Eise Dahir Qasim (keyboard), Mohamed Ali Mohamed (bass), Adan Mohamed Ali Handal (drums), Ooyaaye Eise and Ali Bisha (congas) and Mohamed Karma, Dahir Yaree and Murjaan Ramandan (backing vocals). Dur-Dur Band managed to release almost a dozen recordings before emigrating to Ethiopia, Djibouti and America.
Have you seen the bumper sticker? It reads: Keep Honking! I'm listening to Alice Coltrane's meteoric sensation 'Universal Consciousness'. I guess it's been around for a few years, but I feel like my first sighting of it was only a few weeks ago. I did a double take.
If you are in the driver's seat and listening to this album, I hope you're not moving because this album might send you to the astral plane; you could become detached from communal reality and drift off into a zone of all possible outcomes. The title track itself can make traffic lights flash into colors beyond green red and yellow. Or it's always yellow. You never know. Be careful.
Alice Coltrane was a devoted Hindu. She was very highly spiritual and became even more dedicated as the 70s progressed. Universal Consciousness should really be experienced as a whole, but if I had to choose one track to focus on it's Hare Krishna. This is an eight minute drone-based exploration of spiritual awareness. Very trippy blissful and (generally) relaxing. There are some moments of intense power, but they tend to resolve into a cosmic 'sunset melting into the horizon' feeling.
I'm not that into Carole King as a solo artist. Tapestry is great, I know, but it's got too much of that early 70s singer-songwriter feel. All that wimpy James Taylor stuff, man. No please.
I do, however, like a lot of the songs she wrote with her husband Gerry Goffin, especially Pleasant Valley Sunday. Everyone knows the Monkees version, it peaked at #3 in 1967, all jangly guitar, bass and harmonies. It's a great tune. I'm not sure that I necessarily prefer this demo version, it just feels more wholesome, like every kid in the town is drinking their milk and then flying kites or riding their bikes.
Gerry Goffin didn't like living in the suburbs, he thought they were boring and superficial and this tune is critical of that lifestyle. I myself grew up in a suburb of Chicago. I liked it. But it was very sheltered. It was a shock to slowly learn that not every other kid was growing up in a similar environment. Now, I have to say, I'm with Gerry. I wouldn't want to live in the suburbs at this point in my life. I think they're bland.
If you've ever watched the show Weeds, you'll probably recall the satirical tune Little Boxes by Malvina Reynolds:
Little boxes on the hillside
Little boxes made of ticky-tacky
Little boxes on the hillside
Little boxes all the same
There's a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one
And they're all made out of ticky-tacky
And they all look just the same
Carole King and Gerry Goffin in 1959: move to the suburbs, you guys! you'll love it!
I just need something really moving and gentle right now. To get it all out and keep going. How can there be music like this and humanity is still so violent and greedy and insensitive? I mean, just listen to that piano run that starts at 1:27. So exquisitely delicate.
Delia Derbyshire was a legend in the world of electronic music. She worked and recorded at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop throughout the 1960s and into the early '70s. She is best known for creating the music for the original Doctor Who in 1963, based on the composition by Ron Grainer, who wanted to give her co-writing credits but the BBC overlords nixed it because they wanted workshop staff to remain anonymous. What a bunch of Daleks.
Additionally, she was part of an electronic studio group called White Noise. The one album she participated on is called An Electric Storm. The final song on the album, "Black Mass: An Electric Storm in Hell", is a bit terrifying to say the least.
Pot Au Feu begins with a tidal wave of noise that leads into a Jaws-like pair of notes. Blurpy bottle boops and piercing synth tones arrive, joined by a number of other percussive sounds and a tense synth melody. It's all very urgent and ominous and amazing.
When I was a kid, the Commodores were popular and Lionel Richie was about to become a superstar. I wasn't a fan of theirs but I recognized that they had some very catchy tunes. They were too sappy for me, more like mom music - "Three Times A Lady", "Still." I mean, no way was I going to sing along with this mushy stuff. Lionel also wrote the Kenny Rogers hit "Lady." Geez, just thinking back to riding in the car with my mom and having to listen to "She Believes In Me" makes me cringe.
The one song I actually liked was "Sail On", a breakup song, one they don't write like anymore. The protagonist's take on the relationship:
I gave you my heart
And I tried to make you happy
But you gave me nothing in return
So he's cheerfully saying goodbye. And now
I want everyone to know
I'm looking for a good time
The studio version is a slick radio friendly yacht rock ballad, very smooooth. But here in this unbridled live version, the protagonist finds the good time almost immediately. When I first watched this video, I felt overwhelmed by the differences. Like, what is this song? Dang, all the whoos! and heavy drums, guitars, where did this come from? I knew they could rock, I mean, Brick House and Machine Gun are funky hard and all; maybe I should have been prepared for this.
Lionel is impressively energetic and entertaining out front with his many vocal embellishments, but drummer Walter Orange is the power station. The rest of the guys, the sparkly suits, the musicianship, it looks like they all sing too... What a fantastic performance.
Lionel Richie published his autobiography this past year. My library carries it. Hello, is it me that book's looking for? Eh, got too many others to read first, Lionel.
"Hi! My name is Luie Luie, and I'm here to tell you about a new dance called the Touchy." So begins the fifty-three second monologue that introduces the Touchy, simply a way for people to touch, however they care to touch I guess. He made the recording by himself and played all the instruments. This is an example of outsider music, which includes artists like Jandek, Daniel Johnston, Wesley Willis, the Shaggs, and Tiny Tim.
The actual music is about two and a half minutes. It "must have a wild trumpet introduction." What a wonderful mess of a tune. Some wild horns, some wah guitar, moog, drums and percussion. The name of the album is Touchy, and eight of the ten tracks have either Touchy or Touch in the title.
Luie Luie, real name Luis Johnston, toured bars and nightclubs for decades, performing as a one-man band. He was based out of Southern California, and he made his living working as a painter, screenwriter, and nightclub entertainer. He appeared in or had something to do with the Elvis Presley film Change of Habit (which also starred Mary Tyler Moore). He released an album a few years ago called Trumpet of the Last Days. Good to know he's still out there touching people with his music.
Quite possibly the Coolest video ever. The black and white, the smoke, the looks, the way the camera moves. And, I mean, show me a more quietly confident bunch of musicians outside the jazz world. Hank Marvin, well, he may not be the definition of cool here but just look at him, what a sweet smiling face! He is cool by default, being the lead guitarist and all. The bassist is Jet Harris, leather jacket cool that really ties the room together. He takes a puff on his cigarette, blows out the smoke, saves it for later. The drummer is Tony Meehan, and he's spellbound, all dreamy and far away. And the rhythm guitarist is Bruce Welch, fedora tough, fancying a pint or a fight.
Apache is a pretty well-known instrumental. Covered also by The Ventures, JĂžrgen Ingmann, and of course the "hip hop national anthem" by The Incredible Bongo Band.
The Bears lost to the Rams today, and I'm a bit sad that their season is over. At least we'll always have Apache.
Will the Bears win the Super Bowl next year? Only the Shadows knows.
What happens when your partner is so out of control or depressed that you are anxious about their arrival? You love them but they are so volatile. They think too much about things they couldn't get, their failures, their missed opportunities. This feeling ravages them; they put their fist through a door, they fall through a hole in the floor...you wonder if they should be locked up. But without them you feel like you can't breathe. It's life with someone you love. It's so sad. Because it used to be happy. You think.
I love the video. This representation of repressed domestic post-war times, when people just went through the motions and feelings were locked away to simmer, to boil until they exploded, and one was left to expire in conflicted oblivion.
The music is very much dream pop. Minor/major keys, reverb, twilight dust mote shadow sounds, kind of a sadder sounding Jonathan Richman. I think I heard this on Vintage Obscura Radio.
I just recently stumbled onto this one. I couldn't find the lyrics online, so I transcribed them:
An answer an answer
evening falls
and a hard day’s work is done
everybody is home
and no one’s alone
only the clouds
midnight has fallen
and the world disappears
the clouds swirl around
in shades of serenity
only the clouds
the clouds are fading away
the stars are shining through
and the moon is yellow and gold
the sky lights up
and the bright light comes closer
everybody is home
and no one’s alone
only the clouds
6000 miles away
men are fighting
children are dying
and mothers are crying
and the light suspends in silence
the light changes its colors into bright greens and reds
and then it slowly fades away
it’s startling to know but in those UFOs
may lie the answer to man’s ability alone
an answer an answer an answer…
This is a sweet little poetic tune about alien observers. Only the clouds...everybody is home but they aren't alone. There are colors, stars, clouds that fade. The story feels fairly Muncie, Indiana, pastoral and calm until it gets to the fighting taking place 6000 miles away. I know...we all wish the aliens would finally decide that now is the right time to step in and be the answer, but I guess they just don't like us.
There is no particular verse-chorus pattern, just a very simple and somewhat random arrangement of Em, G and D, with one C thrown in and an A in the an answer bits. Ben sings this with an innocent charm and wonder. He also has some Elvis vibrato in his voice; you can hear it especially at 1:13, the bright light comes closerrrr.
The album is called Ben Bogaardt despite there being three other Bogaardts contributing, one of whom is also a vocalist. Their family story is interesting, here's a nice bit about them from the Canadian Music Museum.
2 violas (the women in the middle) 2 violas da gamba (guy and gal to their right) 1 cello (guy across the way there by himself) 1 harpsichord (large red thing) 1 violone (guy behind the two women, just doing what he does)
This is my favorite movement of the Brandenburg Concertos. I love all the intertwining delicate notes, the way the violas dance around each other, sometimes connecting, other times off on their own adventures. It feels like they get to have all the fun while the rest of the instruments are just holding down the fort and sawing away. But not true. As the piece goes on, there are opportunities for the cello to step out a bit, like at 3:45 he seems to be enjoying himself. The viola players move around a lot, I wonder if they were allowed to do that in Bach's day. Were there even women viola players back then? And even if there were, would they have been allowed to be so physically demonstrative? Magic eight ball says "I seriously doubt it." I looked up other performances, and this one is my favorite, I like the tempo.
I also like the Brandenburg concerto with the wicked harpsichord jam at the end, can't think which one that is off the top of my head. Had to look it up: Concerto 5, 1st movement, Allegro, basically the last 3 and a half minutes is crazy solo harpsichord. Bach was just in the mood that day I suppose. Those other musicians have nothing to do but sit there and listen to this guy rock out like he's playing the keyboard solo in Won't Get Fooled Again. My mom would probably say, "Where are Karl Richter's parents? Letting him mess around on the harpsichord like that? Hmmph."
Bach, the man, the myth, the master of disaster:
Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt:
I wasn't sure I'd post something in memory of Bob Weir, but I found this video, which is from a show I attended. It's one of my favorite songs by the Dead, one of those comforting songs like Ripple or Box Of Rain.
This is one of the earliest works of tape music. This dude took a wire recorder from the office of a radio station in Cairo and went out into the streets to see what inspired him. He encountered a ceremony, called zaar, a type of public exorcism, and recorded the voices. He then returned to the station and started messing around with the recording, using reverb, echo chambers and voltage controllers.
The result was this creepy, haunting two minute piece. I listen to it once in awhile, kind of amazed that this came out during World War II. It sounds both ancient and of its time. Old. Mysterious. Scary. Like the soundtrack for the people who opened King Tut's tomb.
I'm thankful it doesn't go on for twenty minutes; I would probably be hiding under my bed, willing it to go away.
This is another one of the tunes I heard late at night while I was camping on the Oregon Coast at Fort Stevens during a few different Septembers from 2009 - 2011. I had also heard (the DJ emailed me the playlists):
Screaming Females - A New Kid/Zoo Of Death (from a Daytrotter session)
Queens Of The Stone Age - I Think I Lost My Headache
T. Rex - Mystic Lady
Lou Reed - I'm So Free
Dungen - Barnen Undar
Grizzly Bear - Colorado
...and many others, including one I'll eventually post on here.
The Daktaris were right up my alley. I loved Fela Kuti, and was probably listening to a lot of his music at the time I first heard Musicawa Silt. The big saxy sound, the funky rhythm, the beat the beat the beat!
They were actually a bunch of New York session musicians who recorded a one off album and fooled people into thinking they were some long lost Afrobeat group. The group references its own prank in the track title "Eltsuhg Ibal Lasiti", which backwards, reads "It Is All A Big Hustle".
I haven't been able to find a photo that I actually trust to be the real Daktaris, so here's a photo of their one album:
Like a few million other people, I first heard this song in the film "What We Do In The Shadows", a Vampire mockumentary. Hilarious movie. Such a great choice of music.
I didn't know much about Norma Tanega until now, so here is a little bit of what I've learned:
She had a song called Walkin' My Cat Named Dog, which is also excellent. Her mom was Panamanian and her father was Filipino. She grew up in California. She lived to be 80 years old. She was also a painter. When she was a teenager she had her art displayed at the Long Beach Public Library. She also studied classical piano. She lived an adventurous life, backpacked through Europe, had a romantic relationship with Dusty Springfield (!), became more of an experimental musician later on.
